Spotlight tracker
The Spotlight Tracker records how many sessions have passed since each character had a meaningful narrative moment. It is a counter driven entirely by player self-report, visible to the GM in the Stakes Dashboard.
How the count works
After each session, players have 48 hours to make one choice:
- "This was a meaningful session for my character" — resets the counter to zero
- "Background session for me" — increments the counter by one
That is the entire input. No further detail is required or collected.
Skryrún does not define "meaningful." Only the player knows whether a session mattered to their character. A quiet moment of realization can be meaningful. A major combat encounter might not be. The tracker measures player experience, not narrative events.
If a player does not respond within 48 hours, the session is recorded as background by default.
What the GM sees
The counter appears on each character card in the Stakes Dashboard. The visual state changes at two thresholds:
| Counter | GM view |
|---|---|
| 0–2 sessions | No indicator |
| 3–4 sessions | Card shading shifts |
| 5+ sessions | Explicit flag: "Consider a spotlight moment for [Character] soon" |
These flags are prompts, not requirements.
Some players genuinely prefer stretches of background play while they are processing events or enjoying other characters' moments. Check in with the player before treating a high counter as a problem. The flag means "worth a conversation," not "this player is unhappy."
What the tracker does not do
The tracker does not:
- Tell you what kind of moment to run
- Tell you why a player marked a session as background
- Create obligations for the GM or player
- Expose player responses to other players
It surfaces one data point — time since a player felt their character had a meaningful moment — and leaves all interpretation to you.
Connection to the Stakes Dashboard
The spotlight counter feeds directly into the Stakes Dashboard character cards. A character with a high counter and one or more threatened anchors is a strong signal for session prep: there is emotional investment here, and it has not been touched in a while.
The tracker prompts you to check in. What you do next is your call.